Inter beat Juventus 4-2 in Italian Cup final to stay on course for double

ROME: Inter Milan remained on course for a league and cup double by beating Juventus 4-2 after extra time in the Italian Cup final on Wednesday.

Ivan Perisic scored twice in extra time after Hakan Çalhanoglu had converted a controversial late penalty.

Juventus had turned the match around early in the second half with two goals in as many minutes from Alex Sandro and Dusan Vlahovic after going behind on an early Nicolo Barella strike.

For Inter it was the first of what could be an impressive double as they are also tussling with city rival AC Milan at the top of the Serie A standings, although the defending champions are two points behind the Rossoneri with two matches remaining.

Juventus also lost to Inter in the Italian Super Cup in January and it is the first year since 2011 they have finished the season without a trophy.

They were looking for a record-extending 15th Italian Cup and had won five of the past seven editions, including last year’s.

But it was Inter that got off to the perfect start at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome as they took the lead with less than seven minutes on the clock. Barella was given too much time and space by the Juventus defenders and he cut in from the left before curling into the top far corner.

Juventus started to get into the match midway through the first half and almost leveled but first Samir Handanović made a comfortable save to deny Paulo Dybala and then did even better to palm away a great effort from Vlahovic.

However, Handanovic was somewhat at fault for Juve’s equalizer five minutes after the break. A shot from Vlahović was charged down but it came out to Alex Sandro on the edge of the area and his effort squirmed out of the Inter goalkeeper’s hands and into the back of